The Chronicles of Dumb Luck
by Rhythmic5
Summary: Five friends find themselves in Narnia during a camping trip. The High King grows a soft spot for the quiet girl of the group, but she only sees Caspian. Caspian, however, only sees Susan. Multiple pairings, with love triangles. Ohhh yea.
1. Chapter 1

A/N

So...in between my other two stories, I got this crazy idea for another one. I am planning for this one to be completely different from my other Prince Caspian fic, so we'll see how this goes.

Summary: Five friends find themselves in Narnia during a camping trip. The High King grows a soft spot for the quiet girl of the group, but she only sees Caspian. Caspian, however, only sees Susan. Multiple pairings, with love triangles. Ohhh yea.

You know you love triangles.

Anyways, CON doesn't belong to me...just throwing that out there...even though I have Ben Barnes locked in my closet. Oh...oops, crap...did I just say that? Oh...um...damn.

Anyways, enough of my rambling...onto the first chapter. Enjoy, darlings!

* * *

The Chronicles of Dumb Luck

(Prologue)

When five exceptionally bright teens, who happen to be at the top of their class, go camping, you wouldn't expect anything to go wrong, right? Never underestimate the power of brilliance in small doses.

It was June twenty-first. The day was warm and sunny, with a healthy summer breeze sailing through the air. A perfect day for a hike in the hills, right? Well, we seemed to think so…which is where our story shall begin.

My name is Brown…Campbell Brown. Okay, the whole James Bond thing is a little cheesy, but I just couldn't resist. Anyways, it was the summer after we all graduated from high school and we had decided to take a camping trip together before we all went our separate ways to college. I guess before I get too caught up in my storytelling I should introduce the characters of our little tale first.

Meredith and Grace Rinaldi are my two best friends. They're twins, which has proven to make our adventures pretty stellar. Why? Because even though they look identical, they are two completely different girls. Grace is your average tomboy. I mean, sure, she's pretty, but tough as a boot. She's kicked plenty of asses in our time. Not to mention, if you start a debate with her, you're most likely going to lose. Meredith is the exact opposite. She is a modest girl, who always uses her manners and acts the perfect lady. And God forbid she ever has to defend herself…I don't think the girl could hurt a flea. Most of the time Grace has to stand up for her because, bless her heart, she is just too timid.

Bryce Harvey and Rico Cabrera are two other really good friends of mine. Bryce is closest to Grace, but he's been nothing short of a great friend to me and Meredith. We actually have theories that Grace and Bryce like each other, but anytime I've tried to bring the matter up with her, she denies it until she turns blue in the face. That, of course, leads us to believe even more that they are a potential item. Bryce is a pretty nice guy. He's gentle and fun to be around, and tends to be modest like Meredith. But just like most things in nature, you can only push him so far. I saw him get pissed once, and it was a little frightening. Rico in a way gets along better with Meredith than anyone else. That's probably because Meredith is so easy going that he can easily get along with her. He can sometimes be a little anally retentive, and Meredith is the only one who won't tell him off for it. Often he comes off as selfish and stuck on himself, but over the years we've come to realize he doesn't mean it to come across that way.

I am would I would like to call your typical firecracker. If you throw it at me, you're going to get it thrown back at you twenty times harder. I love my friends and I usually go out of my way to care for them, but I won't hesitate to put them in their places if necessary. I also won't hesitate to beat the hell out of you if you mess with any of them. Mess with the bull, and you'll definitely get the horns.

So…you may be wondering why all those little introductions were necessary. Believe me, children, they're necessary. You need to know the character of each of my friends in order to get the most out of this little tale. And let me tell you, my story is one humdinger.

Before I get into the story itself, I want to give you an idea of where we're headed. During our little camping trip, we ended up running into a cavern that, as it turns out, was a portal to Narnia. I'm sure you've heard of it…it's become pretty popular through the great works of C.S. Lewis, and they've even started making a few movies based on those works. Yea, you're probably thinking I'm insane, talking about a fictional world as if it's real. Guess what, bitches. It IS real. The four of us saw it for ourselves firsthand. We saw the world, walked through its lush forests, and interacted with its…inhabitants. We also had an adventure that, as you will soon find out, will last a lifetime.

* * *

A/N

Alrrrrright...so, do you see any potential? Yes, no, maybe so? Lemme know. ;-)

I'm really hyper...I've been cracked out because I only have five weeks of school left and I want summer to be here really badly. Aaaaand I may have just had some ice cream. ;-)

I'm rambling again...alright...maybe I should stop typing...

Peace,

Rhythmic5


	2. Chapter 2

Making A Fool of Grace

So, as I mentioned previously, it was June twenty-first. The day was warm and sunny, with a healthy summer breeze sailing through the air. A perfect day for a hike in the hills, right? Well, we seemed to think so…which is where our story shall begin.

That morning my friends woke up and crawled out of their tents to find me cooking breakfast over our small campfire. Yes, I usually take it upon myself to cook for them. I really don't know where they would be without me, but that's beside the point. Luckily I had brought a box full of kitchen stuff…so the small frying pan I had brought was just right for cooking some eggs and sausage. Grace was the first to emerge from the tent…the fatass was probably following the scent of the food. Grace was one of those people that could eat and eat, and not gain an inch of fat…so don't take 'fatass' as literal. The rest followed, and after a nice meal of sausage and egg burritos, we all got dressed for the day. The previous night we had decided that we wanted to take a hike through the woods.

The one thing I had forgotten about camping was that you have to keep your food items hidden in case critters come looking for them. So when we all came back out of our tents to see a huge black bear digging through the small picnic we had left out, it's needless to say we freaked. Bryce, being the genius he is, screamed like a little bitch when he saw it. Well of course, that got the bear's attention and when he saw us, he looked like he was ready to attack. Bryce isn't the only genius in our group. Once Grace saw the bear stand on his hind legs, she yelped and took off running…a not-so-great idea, might I add.

The bear knew we were now a threat and charged towards us, so we followed Grace. We weaved through trees and leapt over fallen logs, trying to get away from the bear. I don't think I've ever seen those kids run that fast.

"Way to go, Cami, you left out the food!" Rico shouted, looking at me over his shoulder as he ran.

"Yea, well Bryce and Grace were the ones who freaked it out!" I retorted, quickening my pace.

"Just shut up and run!" Bryce shouted from beside me. Ahead of us was a small mouthed cave, which for some reason we retreated to. The weird thing was, once we were all inside the cave, it started to move inside. Dust and pieces of rock were breaking from the walls and ceiling and were spinning around us in a whirlwind. The five of us clung to each other, scared and confused as to what was happening. Soon it all came to a stand still, and I opened my eyes and looked out the mouth of the cave. Oddly enough, before everything went haywire, the mouth of the cave had been behind me…now it was in front of me. Weird.

Rico was the first to set foot outside of the cave, looking in every direction to make sure the bear was gone. After checking our surroundings, he signaled for us to follow. Walking out, Grace looked back at the cave over her shoulder. "That was weird."

None of us had a response as we were all thinking the same thing, and the first half hour of our walk back to the campsite was a quiet one.

After about an hour of walking, we still hadn't reached the campsite. That's when we started to worry. We knew we hadn't run _that_ far…even if we _had _hauled ass.

Meredith broke our silence. "Guys, I feel like we're going in circles."

"That's because we are," Rico said, patting her shoulder. "We've passed this tree four times."

Bryce gave his friend an odd look. "How do you know that?"

Rico walked over to the tree and gestured to the bark. There was an 'R' botched into it. "I marked it with my knife earlier." He pulled out his pocket knife and unfolded it to flash the silver blade. "I've counted four times that we've passed this tree. So, I'm thinking we're lost."

"Well this is just great. We're lost out in the middle of friggin' nowhere!" Grace said, throwing her hands in the air.

"I don't understand," Meredith said, "How did we get lost? We didn't even run that far from the camp."

"Whooooah…what the hell?" Grace said in shock, dashing over to a scrubby looking shrub. "I've never seen a plant like this…it seems like I would have seen it while running from the bear."

Rico left the tree's side and took his place beside Meredith. "What would you guys think if I told you that I don't think we're in the same forest?"

We all turned to look at him. Some of us looked at him in wonder…and some of us, take Grace for example, was looking at him as if he had just told her he'd spotted Sasquatch. However, we all shared looks of fright when a scarlet-fletched arrow whizzed past his ear and embedded itself in the tree behind him. Rico's head snapped around to see the arrow and then back around to see where it came from, immediately taking on his classic defensive stance. "What the…" he said. Rico has a third degree black belt in Taekwondo and has taken it upon himself to be our protector. However, I seriously doubt that serving a round house kick would do anything to an arrow.

"Hold it right there!" A strong feminine voice ordered. We all turned to see four kids dressed in renaissance costumes. There were two boys and two girls, one of which was holding a wooden bow. She already had threaded another arrow, holding it at the ready incase she needed to fire.

"Oh shit!" Grace exclaimed when she saw the arrow pointed at her. "What the…who the hell are you?" She had a defensive expression on her face, and she looked more intimidating than intimidated.

This time the oldest of the four, a tall sandy haired boy who looked to be nineteen spoke up. "We could ask you the same. Who are you and what are you doing in this forest?" I wanted to give him a snappy retort, but thought better of it when I saw the sword hanging at his waist. I also noticed that the younger boy, who could have been sixteen, was also armed with a longsword. The youngest girl, who was probably twelve, didn't look like she was armed, but I wasn't going to take that chance. I looked at Grace, who didn't look like she wanted to tell them jack squat. I nudged her, making her look up at me. I nodded, urging her to speak.

"Uh…I'm Grace," she said before gesturing to each of us in introduction. "This is my sister Meredith, and these are our friends Campbell, Bryce, and Rico. And to answer your second question, we're camping here and we just sort of got lost." At this the four kids looked at each other, sharing expressions of wonder.

"Are you _sure_ you're camping here?" The younger boy asked, eyeing us with skepticism. Grace and I looked at each other, unsure of what to say. We thought we were in the same forest, but it was beginning to feel like it wasn't.

"Wait a moment. You're all American!" The smaller girl exclaimed, her eyes growing wide.

"Well…yes. We _are_ in America, are we not?" Rico asked.

The oldest of the four spoke up once again, with a hint of smugness in his voice. "No, as a matter of fact, you're not. You're in Narnia. And I'll ask you one more time, what are you doing in the forest?" The girl holding the bow put a hand on his shoulder, gaining his attention.

"Peter, it's alright. They're clearly no threat to us. They probably accidentally wound up here like we did a few days ago."

To my left, Rico snorted loudly, earning defensive glances from the four. "Did you just say we're in Narnia? As in _the _Narnia?"

The girl narrowed her eyes at him. "That's what I said." She looked at him suspiciously, asking slowly, "How do you know of it?"

Rico started laughing, almost doubling over as he did. When he finally managed to speak again, it came out a little rude. "Narnia doesn't _even _exist. It's a fictional world created by a man with a twisted imagination!"

The smallest girl smirked at Rico and stepped forward. The oldest boy put a hand on her shoulder to stop her from getting any closer, but she shrugged away from him with a smile. "If it doesn't exist, then how can you explain finding yourself in a forest you've never seen before? If it doesn't exist, then where do you suppose you are now?"

For the first time, Meredith spoke up. Her timid voice was so soft that everyone looked at her as if they weren't sure she was actually speaking. "It has to be real. Don't you know who they are?" She said to Rico, gesturing to the four kids. "They are the Kings and Queens…Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy."

At this the four looked at her in shock. None of them said a word as Lucy strode forward and stopped in front of Meredith, looking up at her fondly. "So a story has been written of Narnia? That's how you know about us, isn't it?"

Meredith nodded, smiling shyly down at the young queen. "Yea, it's one of my favorite stories. I don't mean to make you uncomfortable, but you four are some of my most favorite fictional characters…or should I say non-fictional," she finished with a lighthearted laugh. Peter looked at her as if seeing her for the first time. Stepping forward he reached out a hand to shake.

"I'm High King Peter the Magnificent." Behind him Susan and Edmund snorted, rolling their eyes.

"You could probably leave off that last bit," Edmund said sarcastically. He looked to her, extending a hand. "I'm Edmund."

Susan stepped forward after looping the bow back around her, "I'm Susan."

The little girl standing in front of Meredith smiled widely, "And I'm Lucy!"

I just looked at the four kids, hardly believing that these were the characters from C.S. Lewis's series. But even as I studied them silently, I could feel the wisdom and power emanating from each of them. I also couldn't help but to notice that Peter was quite the looker, and nearly my own age. Sea blue eyes peered at us through a few strands of brownish-blondish-reddish hair that fell over his forehead. I couldn't help but to notice how pretty he was as I admired him. Unluckily, I hadn't even earned his attention yet. He was still looking at Meredith, which was a first. Meredith had never gotten any male attention…it was always Grace or myself who had gotten the guys. No one ever noticed Meredith, mainly because she was so quiet and aloof. But this 'High King' couldn't take his eyes off of her.

I caught Grace looking at her sister in surprise after realizing that Peter was watching her. Inwardly I laughed, knowing this was going to be interesting.

* * *

A/N

I don't have much to say other than, review por favor!


	3. Chapter 3

The Prince and the Pompous Ass

We had been walking through the woods with the so-called 'kings and queens' for maybe an hour. They were on some mission but decided that it wouldn't be right to leave us lost in the woods, and asked us to accompany them. Everything had been fine and dandy. We were sharing stories and telling each other about ourselves when Bryce gave a startled yelp and threw himself against Grace. The nine of us stopped and whirled around, with Edmund and Peter drawing their swords defensively. But when we looked to see what had scared our friend, we all died laughing. A midget…about three-and-a-half feet tall was standing beside Bryce, looking up at him through droopy eyes. The look on his face said 'I've been walking alongside you for the past hour, dimwit'.

"Where in theheck did he come from!?!" Bryce said, backing into Grace even further.

"Where in the heck have you been? I've been walking beside you this entire time." The midget said nonchalantly.

The four young monarchs just looked on the scene with amused grins. "I'm sorry," Lucy said as she tried to hold back her giggles, "but I don't believe you've met Trumpkin."

Bryce was looking down at him nervously, chewing his bottom lip and rubbing his arm. "I'm sorry…I just…" he paused, looking down at his feet. No worries, though. Grace finished for him.

"…he's afraid of midgets."

This time all of us snorted except for Trumpkin and Bryce. The midget just looked up at him through flattened brows. "I'm a dwarf."

"You must know that Trumpkin is a friend. He will not let any harm come to you," Lucy said, patting a small hand on Bryce's leg to comfort him. Bryce just nodded slowly and gulped, slowly prying himself off of Grace so he could walk ahead of the dwarf. For a moment the dwarf watched him, then shook his head and continued on.

As we walked, the dwarf told us that we needed to find some place called 'Dancing Lawn'. But to do that, we had to cross a rushing river…which would prove to be a challenge. Anywhere we tried to cross the water was either too deep, or the crossing was too high from the ground and too dangerous. At one point we were on the edge of a cliff looking at the cliff across the river, and Lucy shouted out something about 'Aslan', which I later remembered was the lion that pretty much posed as God in the books. The sad thing is, when we all looked, there was no great lion to be seen. The poor girl pretty much looked like a loon in that case. So then Peter ended up acting like a know-it-all ass and led us around a circle for about another hour trying to find a safe place to cross…which eventually led us back to the same place after Lucy insisted that she had seen Aslan there. She figured that maybe he was giving them a sign that it was a good place to cross. When we got back to the cliff, she fell through the ground, which just about caused each of us to go into cardiac arrest…which would have given me some pretty good experience considering I want to become a nurse. But as soon as we realized she had found a small stairwell carved into the side of the cliff that led down to the river, we also realized she must have been right about Aslan's illusion. The river was much lower and easier to cross there, and by the end of the day we found ourselves on the other side, setting up a small camp for the night. When Grace realized she was going to have to sleep on the bare ground, she nearly had a conniption fit.

"I effing HATE camping!" She shrieked as she sat Indian style in the grass. She crossed her arms and huffed.

I sighed, leaning against a tree nearby as I looked down at her. "Grace, we've been camping for the past two days, and I've never once heard you complain."

"Yea, but we had sleeping bags…and a tent," she looked back down at the ground and cried, "EFF MY LIFE!"

Edmund looked up. "I promise you that it's not as bad as you think. Narnia isn't as polluted and dirty as our world is." That seemed to shut her up, and she sprawled out on the amazingly fluffy grass. It didn't take long for her to be out like a light. Bryce was sleeping flat not too far from her. I was curled up in a ball on the other side of the campfire near Lucy, and to my right I could see Meredith curled up asleep. I also noticed that not far from her Rico was sleeping. He had evidently noticed the 'High King's" appreciative eye for her earlier and decided to keep close. Rico always had to make himself the protector.

It seemed, at least to me, that the sun had risen as soon as I fell asleep. And once the sun is up, I can just kiss sleep goodbye. When I looked around me, everyone else was still asleep all except for little Lucy, who had gotten to her feet and was looking around.

"Lucy!" I whispered as loudly as I could without waking everyone up. Her head whipped around and when she saw me she smiled slightly. "Where are you going?"

"I had a dream…would you like to come?" She asked quietly, pointing to the woods behind us with a short, slender finger. I shrugged, knowing I wouldn't be able to sleep anyway, and got up to follow her. We didn't get far until we heard a loud roar and ducked beneath a bush. I seriously thought I had gone off in the deep end when I saw a minotaur, but I then reminded myself that I was in Lewis's world now. We both gave a start, though, when a hand landed on each of our shoulders. We both whirled around to see it was only Peter, and he motioned for us to stay quiet. And before I even knew what was going on, he was creeping toward the minotaur with his sword at the ready. However, none of us anticipated the brown and green blur that came out of absolutely nowhere, clashing into Peter. The two of us remained frozen where we sat, not knowing what to do. The two men swung at each other until Peter managed to knock the other's sword out of his hand. We thought he had him until his sword got stuck in the tree behind his opponent…and I seriously thought he was screwed. But, Peter found a pretty big rock behind him and almost rammed the guy in the head with it. I daresay that would have done the job…

But Lucy, being the gutsy little thing she is, ran out there and cried for them to stop. They both stopped, and the rest of our party ran out to see what the commotion was about. Not only did the rest of our party come out, but as I looked up I could see tons of animals looking down at us in outrage, some holding weapons.

Peter looked up at them all with wide eyes. When he looked down at the man who had attacked him, he squinted his eyes. "Prince Caspian?"

The man narrowed his eyes as well and straightened up, making him look at least a few inches taller than Peter. "Yes…and who are you?" The prince removed his gaze from Peter just long enough to scan over the rest of us, and his eyes fell upon Susan. I looked to see Susan meet his gaze and then blush slightly, looking back to Peter. The prince looked back to Peter in confusion and then at the sword in his hand before his eyes brightened in recognition. "You're High King Peter…"

Smugly, Peter answered, "I believe you called."

The bewildered prince looked back the four young monarchs who were standing in front of us. "I did…but, I thought you would be older," he said as his dark eyes landed on Lucy. Beside me Grace leaned into Bryce's ear and whispered, "He's not that old himself…" I also heard Bryce reply, "…but he's a prince."

Peter lifted his chin and looked back at the prince. "Well if you like, we could come back in a few years."

"No! No, it's all right. You're just," he paused as his eyes roved over to Susan again, "you're just…not exactly what I expected." Grace was looking at Susan in an odd way…I figured she probably had the hots for the prince and was jealous that he was eyeing Susan. He looked like the pretty type; right down Grace's alley. He had the whole shoulder-length hair thing going on, and it was a dark brown. His eyes, from what I could tell were brown too. He also had that strong bone structure that normally would have made us both go wild, but I just wasn't feeling it for this guy. Don't ask me why…maybe it was because I was too busy admiring the blue eyed, sandy haired king beside him.

In front of me, I could pretty much picture the look on Edmund's face as he said, "Well, neither are you." It's funny, I hadn't even known the guy a day and I could already pinpoint his expressions. I'm amazing. When Edmund said that, the prince looked up at him. I thought a staring contest was about to ensue, but this thing that definitely had to be a badger wobbled up on his hind legs and spoke. Yes…it spoke. No, I wasn't under the influence of any harmful or illegal substances. Again I had to remind myself that I was in C.S. Lewis's world. The badger sidled up between Peter and the prince.

"A common enemy unites even the oldest of foes," he said in a warm, matured British accent. Okay, at least I thought it was British. Maybe it was a _Narnian _accent, I don't know. Out from the bushes came striding forward a mouse about the size of a cat, holding out a miniature sword. Around one of his ears was a gold loop with a brilliant red plume protruding from it. He came and stood in front of the prince and faced Peter, giving a low sweeping bow in respect.

"We have anxiously awaited your return, my liege. Our hearts and swords are at your service." His voice was also warm and sounded British, but his voice implied a more authoritative power. Regardless, though, I wanted to scoop him up in my arms and squeeze him. He probably would not have appreciated that much, though. Apparently Lucy had thought the same thing, because in front of us she leaned over to Susan and said, "Oh my gosh…he is _so_ cute!"

The mouse spun on his heels, brandishing his sword defiantly. "Who said that!"

"Oh…sorry," the young queen said shyly, looking down at her feet in shame.

When the mouse saw that he had upset her, he lowered his sword and gave a low bow. "Oh, uh…Your Majesty, with the greatest respect, I do believe courageous, courteous, or chivalrous might more befit a knight of Narnia." Lucy smiled down at him and nodded softly, earning a smile…or at least what I think was a smile…from the mouse.

Peter raised an eyebrow at the mouse in slight amusement. "Well, at least we know _some_ of you can handle a blade." Behind him the prince's face took an expression of insult and his thick brows rose. His lips pressed together in a firm line and I could almost smell the gunpowder from the fireworks that were sure to burst forth from the two any moment.

However, the mouse was totally oblivious. "Yes, indeed, my liege. And I have recently put it to good use securing weapons for your army, sire."

"Good," Peter turned to face the prince with a look on his face that pretty much said 'you're pointless…why don't you go practice with your sword somewhere…maybe you'll learn the proper way to handle it' and said, "because we're going to need every sword we can get." I knew the prince was bound to have some fire in him, and I was just waiting for him to throw something back at Peter since he was being such a jackass. And sure enough, the prince didn't disappoint.

He looked at Peter full on and said, "Well, then you will probably be wanting yours back." I had to bite down on my bottom lip to keep from laughing. Bryce and Grace snorted beside me and I gave them warning looks out of the corner of my eye to keep silent. The last thing I needed was the five of us getting into a brawl between a highly egotistical teenage king and an equally conceited prince. I had to give the guy kudos, though. I probably would have said much worse to Peter had he insulted me. Actually, it was lucky he hadn't said it to any of us…Grace most likely would have just kicked him in the nuts.

The high king took the sword form the prince and I could see the dislike each held for the other in their eyes. I knew at that moment that as long as we were in this fantasy world, those two would make it interesting.

* * *

A/N

Well, there's another chapter. Let me know what you think.

Peace,

Rhythmic5


	4. Chapter 4

Unexpected Developments

Once again we were walking. I wasn't that badly out of shape, but damn… I was missing my car right about now. While we were walking, the four young monarchs plus the Caspian dude were conversing about some evil guy who was trying to kill him for his crown. Apparently Caspian was expecting an attack, and the most logical place to prepare for battle was at Aslan's How. Yes, bits and pieces of info were starting to come back to me. I hadn't read the books, but I saw the two movies that had been made. And little by little, things were beginning to make sense.

I was getting rather bored with the long trek through the forest. It was pretty monotonous save for the occasional branch I had to duck beneath or the fallen log I had to hop over. Looking to either side I could see that my friends were carrying on conversation with the monarchs. Peter and Rico were talking about something which sounded like martial arts, and Peter looked as if he was ready to dig his own brains out of his ears with a screwdriver. Once Rico got started on either martial arts, religion, politics, or his favorite tv show 'Heroes', you might as well settle in…because you weren't going anywhere. Bryce and Grace were talking to Edmund, and it looked like the three of them were getting along pretty well. They were laughing about something Edmund was saying, and every once in a while I could see Bryce peer over the king's shoulder to make sure the dwarf hadn't moved from his place beside Lucy. Meredith was talking to Lucy and I saw Lucy give her a hug around the middle. Beside me, the only monarch who wasn't speaking was walking alone. I gave her a sideways glance to see her looking at me curiously.

"Not one for chewing the fat, are you?" I asked her, smiling when I saw the mirth dancing in her crystal blue eyes.

"It depends. I don't mind it when there is actually something to talk about. Otherwise, I enjoy the peace of silence."

"Ah, well, it looks like you share something in common with Meredith then. She hardly ever speaks up." The queen looked up to steal a glance at the girl.

"I've noticed…and apparently so has my brother," she said through a smirk.

Meredith was giggling at something the dwarf had said. For the first time the dwarf flashed a hint of a grin at her. I say the 'first time' because since we had met him, he hadn't been much more than a sour puss. From the other side of our little procession, I saw the high king's head snap up at the sound of her light laughter. His eyes softened at the sight of her gentle smile, but then he caught me watching him and flushed a soft pink and quickly looked away. The 'Magnificent High King' had eyes for my dear Meri. I wasn't sure if they would make a good pair though…I mean, sure I had only met him, but so far he had been nothing but a d-bag.

"You know, she's never really gotten much attention from the fellas," I said, nodding my head in Meredith's direction.

"Really now?" Susan asked, eyeing her curiously. "I suppose it's because she is so quiet and reserved. From my own experience I know that most boys only notice the girls who throw themselves at them. No worries though, one of these days someone will notice her."

Peter was watching her again, and this time Meredith must have felt his eyes on her, because she looked up to meet his gaze. He quickly looked away, flushing pink again.

Prince Caspian was walking alone behind us…I suppose after getting shunned earlier had taken quite a blow to his pride. When I took a glance at him over my shoulder, he was watching Susan. Sheesh! Between Peter and Meredith, and Caspian and Susan, we were going to have drama running rampant!

"Cami!" Grace called from where she was walking in between Edmund and Bryce. "You gotta come see this…Bryce is such a freak!" I looked up to see Bryce making a weird face at the young king, and knew that he was back to normal after the dwarf scare. Edmund was guffawing loudly and Grace was wheezing with laughter.

* * *

"Dude! Are those really fauns?" Grace cried from beside me as we entered the forge of the how. All around us Narnians were fast at work, preparing weapons for battle. Fires blazed and metal clanked as they worked.

"I would believe so," Rico said seriously, eyeing over the forge. Ahead of me the four monarchs walked through the room as Caspian stood to the side.

"It may not be what you're used to, but it's defensible," he said almost timidly, waiting for Peter's reaction. Peter was standing in the middle of the room, looking around with a look of satisfaction on his face.

"Peter! You may want to see this!" Susan called from the other side of the room. Even though she only called Peter, the rest of us just had to follow…God forbid we miss out on something. When we got closer, Lucy ran to the wall Susan was standing in front of and started touching it as she studied the markings there.

"It's us," Susan said, holding up a torch to the drawings so the rest of us could see. Just below the torch's glow I could make out a drawing of a fawn standing beneath a lamp post, and Lucy stroked it longingly with the ghost of a smile on her face. The small girl turned to face Caspian.

"What is this place?" She asked quietly.

The prince looked at each of the monarchs' curious expressions. "You don't know?" They all looked at him as if waiting for an answer, but instead he took a torch from a sconce on the wall and began walking down a passageway. I hadn't noticed the sconce at first, but now that I was aware of it, I quickly surveyed the rest of the room. There were sconces everywhere! I HATE sconces! They are the absolute most useless things ever invented…okay, well in this case they served a purpose..but UGH! I looked at the wall…there was a sconce. I looked at the patch of stone wall behind me…there was a sconce. I scuffled down the hall a few feet…and behold, another God forsaken sconce! I could hear the psycho theme music playing in my head. Anyways, enough of my babble. Like a herd of sheep following their shepherd, we trailed after him…all nine of us. He led us to a great room that was completely dark, but he lit a pool of oil with his torch that sent light all around the perimeter of the room. When the room was lit enough for us to see, I saw that there was a huge table in its center, broken in half. He stood in front of us, holding out his hands as if to show us the great room around us. To me, it was just a big, musty, dank room. Grace looked disgusted and was holding her shirt over her nose to block out the floating dust. The rest of us just looked around in wonder. The four monarchs must have recognized something about the room, though, because Luc y ran forward and kneeled in front of the broken table. Peter, Susan, and Edmund watched her with concerned eyes. Bryce leaned over to Rico and asked, "What's up with the broken table?" He meant to whisper it, but it seemed to echo so that everyone could hear it. Every monarch in the room snapped their heads in his direction, almost defensively.

"This is where Aslan died…" Susan paused to look at Edmund, "to save him from the White Witch." She fell silent after that, looking down at her feet sadly in remembrance. And then I remembered. I looked to Bryce, who still looked pretty puzzled.

"Remember how Edmund betrayed Narnia by schmoozing with the White Witch?" I paused, waiting for Bryce to nod in recognition.

Instead he shrugged his shoulders. "I never read the books."

"Neither did I…but I saw the movies," I replied. "Anyways, the White Witch comes back and says that since he was a traitor, then he was hers to execute. And Aslan went in his place. By doing that, he was granted his life back…because he was innocent sacrificed himself." I pointed at the stone table where Lucy still knelt, looking at me as I told the story. "That table is where he was sacrificed." I looked over to Lucy and smiled kindly at the young queen. "Is that pretty close to accurate?"

She grinned and nodded. "Close enough." Grace snorted, and I looked at her with an arched eyebrow.

"What?" I asked.

She shook her head with a grin. "God, you just know everything, don't you?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Well, I am Jesus's right-hand man."

Grace snorted again. "Oh GOD! Not this again…"

Meredith started giggling and shaking her head. And of course, Peter had to look at her. He grinned when he saw her giggling. Yep, he definitely wanted her cookie. He looked away from her to refocus his attention on Lucy, who was looking at him expectantly.

"He must know what he's doing," she said to him, her bright eyes shining in hope.

Peter inhaled loudly and stood up a little straighter. He tilted his face up higher and put a hand on his waist as he looked back at her in evident disapproval. "I think it's up to us now." And with that, he spun on his feet and walked out. Edmund and Caspian followed him out, I'm guessing to carry on with battle preparations. Susan looked down at Lucy, who was now frowning sadly at a depiction of a great lion that was painted into the stone wall in the back of the room. She looked at her and parted her lips as if to say something, but thought better of it and left the room behind the others. Rico and Bryce looked at each other and shrugged, and then walked out after them. Grace ran out after them, leaving me, Lucy, and Meredith. Meri gave me a look that said I could go, so I figured she was going to stay and try to cheer up Lucy. Those two seemed to be becoming fast friends.

* * *

Don't ask me how in the hell the five of us got drug into all of this. What place do five kids fresh out of high school have in battle?

As I leaned against the cold stone wall of the stone table room, listening to the five monarchs argue back and forth about what to do, I pondered this. But as much as I racked my brain for a divine answer, I kept batting zero.

"It's only a matter of time," Peter said loudly over the debating voices that were filling the room. "Miraz's men and their war machines are on their way." He stepped away from the stone table, circling it as he passed each of us from behind. "That means those same men aren't protecting his castle."

I looked up at him as he said this. It was a good point…I was wondering how long it would be before one of them realized that. Maybe there was a brain in this monarchy.

A huge rat about the size of a wiener dog came striding forward on his hind legs. Reepicheep was his name, if I remembered correctly from the movies. He looked up at Peter. "What do you propose we do, Your Majesty?"

Peter regarded the mouse with a swift nod. "Our only hope is to strike them before they strike us."

Ohhhh God.

Caspian didn't like that idea either, apparently. His eyebrows shot up and he had the biggest look of ridicule on his face. "But, that's crazy! No one has ever taken the castle!" Across the table, standing between Grace and Bryce, Edmund snapped his head in Caspian's direction as he studied the prince silently.

"There's always a first time," he said, giving the prince a look that meant he needed to put a cork in it. The dwarf, Trumpkin, seemed to sense the tension and leaned inward from beside Lucy, looking at Caspian.

"We would have the element of surprise."

Caspian shook his head once before looking back from the dwarf to Edmund. "But we have the advantage here."

From where she was leaning against a column, Susan spoke up, probably hoping to stifle some of the tension as well. "If we dig in, we could probably hold them off indefinitely." At this, Caspian looked at her in surprise…and interest. She noticed it, and looked away as her cheeks flushed. I also caught the faint look of disappointment that flashed across Meredith's face. Ooooh, a new development, possibly? This just kept getting better and better.

The badger, Trufflehunter, who had turned out to be a pretty cool guy, looked at Peter through his big black eyes. "I, for one, feel safer underground," he offered.

Peter glanced at each of them before looking back at Caspian. He stopped circling the table to stand a few feet away from him. "Look, I appreciate all that you've done here, but this isn't a fortress," he held his arms out to the room around them, "it's a tomb."

"And if they're smart, the Telmarines will just wait and starve us out," Edmund added, tilting his head in impatience.

"We could collect nuts!!!" A shrill and very annoying voice cried out. My head snapped in its direction to see a squirrel bouncing up and down on a small rock. I narrowed my eyes, wanting very much to chunk something at it. But I didn't need to, because Reepicheep didn't waste any time before jumping on his case.

"Yes! And throw them at the Telmarines!" The mouse said, rolling his eyes. "Shut up!" He shook his head in disbelief before looking back at Peter. "I think you know where I stand, Sire."

Peter nodded, squinting his eyes in thought before looking to the head centaur, who we knew to be Glenstorm. "If I get your troops in, can you handle the guards?" he asked him, regarding him with respect shining brightly in his eyes. The centaur looked at Caspian almost apologetically before looking back to Peter with a regal nod.

"Or die trying, my liege."

"That's just what I'm worried about," Lucy said from where she was sitting on the stone table. Beside her, Meredith looked at her understandingly. Peter turned to her in confusion.

"Sorry?" He asked as he squinted his eyes at her.

Lucy shrugged her shoulders slightly, looking from Peter to the others. "Well, you're all acting like there are only two options…dying here or dying there."

Peter shook his head shook his head once. "I don't think you've been listening, Lu."

Lucy was turning red in the face in anger, but Meredith was the one who spoke up. "No, you're the one who isn't listening! I don't recall it being you who defeated the White Witch, Peter!" All of us looked at her as if she'd said she found Oz. Meredith hardly ever spoke, and she NEVER spoke above a whisper. She actually yelled! That was epic...

Peter looked at her in shock, his mouth hanging open slightly. Lucy smiled at her and scooted closer to her on the table. The High King turned red and looked away from Meredith before looking back at Lucy.

"I think we've waited for Aslan long enough." And with that, he stormed out of the room, leaving a very awkward silence in his wake.

* * *

A/N

Sorry about the long wait, guys. Summer's finally here and hopefully I can start updating faster. Please let me know what you think! Review!

Peace,

Rhythmic5


	5. Chapter 5

A/N

Alright, I'm posting this chapter as a special request made by a highly bored individual. Yes, Kara, that means you. Haha, so here you go.

* * *

A Hint of the Past

After Meridith's little outburst of rage, the five of us decided to stay out of the "battle prep" meetings. The monarchs were actually in the stone table room holding a meeting at that moment, but now that I didn't need to be there, I spent the time chilling outside. Grace and I were laying in the sun, because God knows we needed it. Especially Grace…that girl is so pale she reflects sunlight. I was mainly just enjoying its warmth on my face, which is why I was very disappointed when something blocked it. I opened one eye to see Peter standing over me. At first I was mesmerized by the way his blue eyes glowed against the sun, but then I remembered he was sweet on Meredith and came back to reality. I slowly squinted back at him, holding my hand over my eyes to try to shield them from the light.

"'Sup?" I asked.

He looked down at me with a smirk before replying. "Have you seen Meredith?" Hehe, and why would he want to know?

"Sure haven't. But I'm pretty sure she's with Lucy…wherever she is. How come _she_ wasn't allowed to take part in y'all's meeting? Is it because she's short, Pete? Because that's discriminating, and discriminating is just plain wrong," I joked, continuing to squint.

Peter shook his head, not even attempting to hide his smirk. "Lucy wasn't allowed in on this meeting because she won't be able to join us on the mission we discussed. It will be far too dangerous for her."

I nodded in understanding. "I can understand that. Now, for my next question. Why do you want to know where Meredith is?" I asked with an arched brow, knowing exactly why…I just wanted to watch him squirm a little.

Sure enough, the High King began blushing furiously. "I…I d-," he stammered before shaking himself, "oh, never mind. I'll just find her myself." And with that he stomped off impatiently. I just watched him leave, smiling because I knew he liked Meri, and frowning because I knew she didn't like him. On the other hand, I didn't think he was that bad of a guy and wouldn't mind giving him a shot. But, he just had eyes for Meredith, it seemed. Grace slowly sat up, looking at me oddly after watching the king walk away.

"So…Peter and Meri? What's up with that? She hardly ever gets any attention from guys," she said.

I sighed, looking away from her contemplative face to watch Peter's retreating back. "Yea…well, there's a first time for everything, I guess."

She must have sensed something in my voice, because she looked as if she wanted to say something, but at just that moment, Susan walked up to us and sat on the grass beside me. "It's a fine afternoon, isn't it?" She asked sarcastically, brushing her skirt where she sat.

I looked back at Susan. She was an unusual looking chick. She was really pretty…almost too pretty. You know those girls that are so perfect that they're almost ugly? She was almost one of those. She was fair skinned with a soft, round face. Her dark brown hair looked black against it, and flowed in luscious waves down her back. Her eyes were the same color as Peter's, only darker. They looked like sapphires against her pale cheeks, which were brushed with lots of freckles. They were cute though…they weren't unattractive at all. She had really pretty, full lips, too. I was slightly jealous of her lips. So to sum it up, she was a really pretty chick. I could see why Caspian kept checking her out. At the moment, though, her pretty face was distorted in a look of aggitation.

"Alright, what happened?" I asked, tilting my head. Grace scooted to her other side, forming a circle.

"It's Caspian, isn't it," Grace stated more than asked.

Susan eyed her with a 'hmph'. "How did you ever guess."

Grace chuckled and nodded her head in the direction of the how's entrance, which was behind us. "Well, judging by how he just came outside and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw you sitting with us, I just figured he's been following you around like a stray dog."

Susan buried her face in her hands and took a few breaths. "Yes, every time I look up, he's watching me. Everywhere I go, he just happens to be there," she groaned.

I smirked. "Well, the how is sort of a close-knit place. It isn't that hard to keep running into each other."

Susan narrowed her eyes at me. "You know what I mean. He won't leave me alone."

"If by 'he won't leave you alone', you mean he's hounding you like a fox, then yes," I said, struggling to keep a straight face.

"And if I might add," Grace said, wiggling her eyebrows, "you are quite a fox, Sue."

Susan's sapphire eyes widened and her cheeks tinged pink before she buried her face in her hands again with a loud moan. I remembered that Peter mentioned a mission, and I figured Susan had had enough of our pitiless teasing. So I decided to try to get some answers out of her.

"Did you guys get anything accomplished in that meeting of yours?"

Susan peered at me through her fingers and closed her eyes for a second. "Yes, amazingly, we did. Caspian finally stopped arguing that attacking the castle is hopeless, and Peter stopped trying to convince Caspian that he's an idiot…at least for now." She picked up a piece of grass and started twirling it in between her fingers. "We're raiding the castle at midnight. And, I was going to ask you two," she paused to look at each of us, "could you guys look after Lucy while we're gone. She's much too young to come with us, and we know you guys will probably stay here and look after things while we're away."

I was about to open my mouth to answer, but Meredith's voice broke in from behind us. "Hide me!" She ran up to us and collapsed behind Grace, huffing and puffing as if she'd just ran a marathon. The three of us exchanged confused looks and waited for her to catch her breath. After a few deep breaths, she sat up on her knees and looked around wildly.

"Meri, what in the heck is wrong with you?" Grace asked her sister.

The girl looked back at her and blinked, still catching hold of herself. "Peter" was all she said. Just then, Susan's brow furrowed at something she saw behind Meredith, and she leaned forward, putting a hand on her shoulder. I didn't quite get what that was about until Peter passed by us, eyeing Meredith with a hurt look and making for the how. I rubbed her on the back to calm her down, and as soon as she did, I asked her, "You wanna tell us what happened?"

She slowly nodded and huddled closer to me, shaking like a frightened child. Bless her heart, she was still the fragile doll she had always been. Well, not _always_… "Well, I was looking for Lucy, and decided to sit for a rest in the forest. I heard a few twigs snap and turned around to find Peter there…

"_It's alright, it's only me," he chuckled as he held his hands up. She eyed him suspiciously from where she sat on the rotting log, debating on whether she should stay put or run. "What are you doing out here alone?"_

_She quickly looked down at her feet, not wanting to make eye contact. She didn't respond to him, either._

_Sensing that he wasn't wanted, he sighed loudly. "You really shouldn't be wandering around by yourself. It isn't safe for a woman to be alone in these woods, especially now." He sat down beside her on the log, watching her to see if she reacted. She tensed and sat up straighter, watching him from the corner of her eye. "I know you can speak…you put me in my place pretty well just the other day," he muttered, wondering what he could say to get her to speak to him. Instead of a verbal reply, to his disappointment, she only scooted away from him on the log._

_Again, Peter sighed. "I don't want you to think that I'm angry with you for getting upset. I understand that you and Lucy have become friends, and that you were just trying to get me to see what she was telling me," he paused to see if this stirred a response. It didn't. "Meredith, won't you say something?" He scooted closer to her and gently placed his hand on her arm. The second his skin touched hers, she jumped from the log and stood, slowly backing away from him. Her face had paled considerably and her eyes were widened, making her look more than just a little frightened. Was she afraid of him?_

"_I'm sorry," he said, his brows slanting apologetically, "I'm not trying to frighten you. I just don't understand why you won't speak to me. I truly do not mean to frighten you." He looked up at the now trembling girl, feeling bad for scaring her. Why was she so timid? She had spoken before to the others, and she spoke to Lucy all the time, so why not him? Meredith stood there, squeezing her fists together at her sides and trembling. She parted her lips as if to say something, but then closed them again._

"_It's okay, you can talk to me," Peter coaxed gently. He watched as she chewed her bottom lip as she struggled to speak. Finally, she squeezed her eyes shut and spoke._

"_I…I need to g-go find Lucy." And with that, she turned and ran back through the woods towards the how. _

Susan was patting Meredith's hair when she finished the story. I'm guessing she felt for her, since she was sort of in the same boat with Caspian…only she wasn't afraid of him. Grace was looking at her sister sadly, wishing that she could just speak up. Then her face turned red and her eyes burned in anger, and I knew exactly why. Meredith hadn't always been the timid, quiet girl that she was. A long time ago, she was just as perky and fun-loving as her sister. In fact, she was quite the spontaneous young lady, and often did things before thinking them through…which is what got her into trouble…and was why she was the unsure, unconfident girl that she was now. Just thinking about it was pissing me off, and when I closed my eyes, I saw _him_. I opened my eyes quickly to get rid of the image, and when I did I saw Grace watching me. She nodded knowingly, and closed her eyes, taking a few breaths. Susan was watching both us with a blank expression, but I saw the questioning in her eyes. Then Meredith leaned up and saw how both of us were trying to regain control of ourselves, and she got up.

"I'm going to go find Lucy. I'll see you guys later," she said quietly before descending down the how's entrance.

* * *

"'_Cause this is thriller, thriller night_

_And no one's gonna save you from the beast about to strike_

_You know it's thriller, thriller night_

_You're fighting for you life inside a killer, thriller night"_

Edmund and Rico cackled as Bryce spun on his heels, singing Michael Jackson songs in his mock shrill 'Michael Jackson' voice. Yes, Bryce is obsessed with Michael Jackson. And watching him sing along to his music is probably one of the funniest things ever…I have it on tape. Edmund laughed into his curled fist, leaning against the wall.

"Does the guy who sings that really sound like that?" he asked through a laugh.

Rico did his best to answer through his own cackling. "It's pretty close."

Meredith came up and leaned against Rico, and he gave her an odd look when he noticed how pale she looked. "Meri, are you okay?" he asked in concern.

"Yea," she blinked her eyes before looking back at him, "I'm fine. Have you guys seen Lucy?"

Edmund pointed towards the stone table room. "She's probably in there…she's made the place her own personal temple," he said with a laugh. The girl smiled back and with a light wave, left them to walk towards the stone table room. The three boys watched her walk away. Rico watched her in concern because he knew something was bothering her. Bryce watched her, wondering why she looked so pale and shaken. Edmund watched her, thinking how much alike her and her sister were. He turned back to Rico.

"How long have you guys known Meredith and her sister?"

Rico casually turned back to face the young king, his eyes gleaming knowingly. "Since our first year of college. I was actually friends with Grace, first though. Meri was one of those bouncy, hyper girls that kinda annoyed me, and Grace was active, but fun. But something happened during our sophomore year and Meri completely changed. After that, for one reason or another, Grace and I stopped getting along so well, and I got closer to Meri," he explained. Bryce looked down at his feet, not making eye contact.

"What happened? Meredith is so quiet, and shy. I can't imagine her ever being the bouncy sort," Edmund asked, his eyes narrowed in thought.

Rico and Bryce both got really quiet, and suddenly found the ground really interesting. "I'm not sure we're the right ones to tell you that, Ed." The young king nodded, wondering silently what could have possibly happened to bring on such a change in someone.

* * *

A/N

Dun dun dun...

Hope you guys enjoyed it. Remember to review and let me know what you think of it.

Peace,

Rhythmic5


	6. Chapter 6

Planning for the Hit

The rest of that day had pretty much consisted of Susan, Grace, Edmund, Rico, Bryce and myself hanging out and sharing stories around a small campfire. Meredith and Lucy would occasionally walk by and join us, but for the most part they did their own thing. It was kind of weird to see Meredith getting along so well with someone so much younger, but none of us said anything about it. From what I remembered, the monarchs had actually been much older before…it had something to do with Narnia time. Apparently they grew older here and then left and went back to where we're all originally from..and then came back at the same age they started…or something like that. It's all really confusing. My point in that whole spill was that it really wasn't all that bad for Meredith to be hanging with Lucy, because psychologically she wasn't that young. Anywho… we barely saw Peter, and everyone figured it was because he was sorting out last minute preparations for the raid on Telmar castle. However, I knew his reason for staying to himself was more likely to be related to his encounter with Meri. Caspian would pass by and take a seat with us for a while, and would always sit beside Susan…much to her chagrin.

Grace and I were sharing one of our most amusing memories, which consisted of visiting one of her older brother's friends at another college…and getting shitfaced (yes, Meredith and Grace have an older brother. And don't ask me why, but their parents actually decided to give him an Italian first name, Carlo, when they didn't for the girls. Yea it's weird, we know). However, the best part of the story was when Grace, under the influence of the massive amounts of alcohol she had consumed, stood up from the floor and began rubbing our playing cards all over her chest. None of us had an actual deck of cards so we had to make them ourselves, using index cards and a sharpie, but it didn't make it any less fantastic. I, of course, had to take over when it came to telling that part.

"And then she was like," I paused, laughing, "this is me, guys. This. Is. Me. This seven, this eight, it's allllll me." Lucy and Meredith sat down and joined our circle, and Meredith's face lit up when she recognized the story.

She snorted and then added a bit. "Then she started rubbing the cards all over her chest. And don't forget that weird valley girl accent she used when she said it."

"Oh yea. Or when she licked the ace of spades and tried to glue it to her forehead. That was genius," I snorted, grinning when Grace shot me a glare.

"Why is this story so amusing to you guys? WHY!?!" she said in mock frustration, folding her knees and burying her face between them.

"And then when Carlo called Jesse and heard Grace laughing maniacally, and was like, "Is my sister schwaisted?" Meredith added, cackling at the memory.

I had to jump in and finish this one. This was one of the best lines of the entire thing. "And then she yanks the phone away from Jesse and is like, 'OMG, Carlo, I friggin' LOVE YOU!'" At this, Grace couldn't hide the fact that she, too, was amused by the story, and the three of us died laughing. Rico and Bryce were just shaking their heads, as neither of them approve of drinking alcohol. Susan and Lucy laughed along, probably thinking we were insane, and Caspian, being the inquisitive guy he is, had to ask, "What does 'schwaisted' mean?"

The three of us were still guffawing uncontrollably, so Bryce had to answer him. "It's when you're really drunk…like between shitfaced and wasted," he paused at seeing the still confused looks on the monarchs' faces. "It's just when you're really drunk."

After his question had been answered, the prince simply nodded, and found himself distracted by Susan. The poor girl felt his eyes on her and looked at me with a look that said, "Kill me now." I also noticed Meredith looking at him almost dreamily, and I wondered if maybe she was slowly getting over her fear of the opposite sex. Okay, she wasn't _afraid_ of guys…she was just a little weary of them. Especially after…well, after her incident a few years ago. But the way she was looking at Caspian made me think she wasn't afraid of him at all.

Susan also noticed the way the girl was gazing at him, because she looked at me through the corner of her eye and nodded. And then, glittering in the depths of her sapphire eyes, I saw a plan brewing.

* * *

That night, just before midnight, the griffons arrived to assist in the raid. Yes, actual griffons. Grace was stoked. She's all into Greek mythology and all that jazz, so when she saw the winged beasts swoop down from the twilit sky, she just about pissed her pants. Peter was the first out of the how, dressed in all his protective gear, with his sword hanging at his waist. He greeted the griffons, who bowed lowly at his feet. The gang and I were standing just outside of the how's entrance, watching the exchange. There were five griffons: one for Susan, one for Edmund, one for Peter, one for Caspian…and one for me. Yes, a fortunate soul was I. You may be wondering why I would be the only one of us going with them on the raid. Well, we were all going. All five of us. The guys were pissed that us women were going, though. I'm sure you can imagine how that discussion went…

Peter had called everyone together to formulate a plan for the raid in one of the smaller chambers of the how…and by everyone, I mean it. Except for us three chicas. There was a centaur, which I believe was named Glenstorm, a bear, a mouse, which I think they called Reepicheep, Trumpkin, and a few other random animals. I mean, Narnians. Grace, Meri, and I walked in towards the end of the meeting, I think, because they all had this look of finality on their faces. Rico was all for the raid. Bryce isn't much for confrontation or violence, but he knew that he would be expected to have some take in it. When we heard the discussion, we stepped into their little circle. By 'we' I mean Grace, Meredith, and myself. Why not? Susan was going, and if she could go then we could too, right? Wrong, apparently. When we stepped in, not only did Peter look alarmed, but so did Rico.

"And what do you three think you're doing?" he asked, his eyes roving from each of us as we approached.

Grace slid up next to him, eyeing him boldly. "Getting in on the shindig, that's what."

Rico's eyes got as big around as oranges. Not to mention his cheeks got really red, and that's not from deep embarrassment. "Forget it."

"Come on!" Grace almost whined, except the insistence in her voice was too determined for it to be whiny.

And I had to put my two cents in. "You should know us well enough by now to know that we aren't going to sit back and-," but guess what…I was interrupted.

"No," he said, his voice the same nerdy, tenor tone, but hinting at his disapproval.

"…and miss out on seeing you two get your scrawny asses beat," I finished.

"Just who are you calling 'scrawny'?" Bryce spoke up, but it was evident he was joking, trying to lighten things up so that Rico would chill. Rico caught it, and one corner of his lips twitched, but he stood firm.

"You're not coming. None of you."

"Why not? Susan's going!" Grace said, letting her weight shift to her left leg, crossing her arms.

He looked over at Susan, who was looking down at her feet, probably feeling guilty for being brought up. "Susan has fought before. You saw the way she shot those arrows at us. You three, on the other hand, have not."

"We could still be of some use…I know it," Grace countered, really wanting to be able to help them. We were waiting for Rico to present another obviously legitimate argument against us going, but instead it was Peter who spoke.

"Rico is right." All three of us then looked at him, and Rico visibly relaxed at not having three angry females glaring at him. I could tell that it bothered Peter, but he was pretty good at hiding it. It must have been a part of diplomacy. "You must all stay here. Not one of you knows how to fight with a weapon, and not one of us can afford to worry about protecting you along with the task at hand."

"Dude, you haven't seen Meri with a shotgun…." I had to snort out loud at the comment Grace made about her sister. This comment drew everyone's attention to a thoroughly scarlet Meredith, whom no one would even consider as violent. It was true, all of us were aware that Meredith and Grace had a little experience with firearms. They did come from a rural part of the state. And we also knew that Meri hadn't always been the quiet, modest girl that she was now. But for the Pevensies and Caspian, who were staring wide-eyed at her, it was quite a surprise. Especially for Peter, who looked shocked, but a little impressed. Meri noticed this as well and quickly looked down at her feet, rubbing her arm in dread.

A snicker arose from Edmund, and I looked at him, knowing he was about to make a statement. "Alright, let me get this straight. You've used a gun." He was looking straight at Meredith as if wanting to believe it, but not seeing a valid reason to.

And Meredith, bless her heart, just stood there, wringing her hands in front of her nervously. The poor thing was nibbling on her lip and looking from one person to the next, her eyes flashing between them to try to cover up her shame. "Yea, I have."

"You guys don't know it, but Meri's a regular badass," Grace said, patting her heavily on the back, almost knocking Meredith forward. She probably noticed her sister's discomfort, but was trying to play everything off smoothly.

"…which is why you should let us come with you on the raid. We're handy." Yea, handy probably wasn't one of the best adjectives I could have come up with, but it's all I had at the moment.

Rico still wasn't done opposing. "You will be safer here, though. If you're with us, then we have to actually worry about what you're doing while we're fighting. If you're here, then at least we know you'll be inside. Safe."

Grace sighed loudly and I clicked my tongue, and was just about to retort when Meredith beat us both to the punch. "So let's think about this, because I'm not sure I'm seeing it clearly." She was standing erect, with one hand on her hip. She was no longer blushing, and she no longer looked timid. This was the Business Meredith. We didn't see this very often, but every once in a while we did. Grace and I exchanged curious glances before I looked over to Bryce and Rico, who were watching her attentively. She looked from each of us and lastly focused on Peter, silently asking permission to continue…despite her previous discomfort.

"Go on," he urged gently, waving his hand.

For a second she paled slightly, but then she blinked a few times and the Business Meredith was back. "Alright," she shifted to another leg, "so, why is it that we're raiding the castle."

Peter smiled adoringly at her as if she was a very attractive, yet airheaded girl who had just asked an exceedingly dumb question. "Since the Telmarines have taken camp on the river, that means they aren't guarding the castle…which means the castle is standing vulnerable to any attacks. It's our opportune moment to take this entire war into our own hands." His explanation was pretty eloquent, I had to give him that. Everyone else was watching him with expressions of respect and trust. But I had spotted the trap he had walked himself into, and judging by the bright twinkle in Grace's eyes, so had she. Meri was bright. Perhaps more so than these child prodigy rulers were aware of.

Meredith nodded and grinned with something that eluded enlightenment. "Yes, yes, that's right." She rolled back on her heels, crossing her arms as she thought. "So in essence, we're doing the exact same thing that the Telmarine army has done. We're abandoning our defense to try to sneak an attack." She paused for the perfect amount of time, watching realization dawn on every face in the circle. Bryce was shuffling back and forth on his feet, and the contorted look on his face told me that he was trying his best to bite back a laugh. "What are the chances that the Telmarines will attack the how in the night while we are away attacking their castle? And if they do, what, pray tell, do you plan to do about it?"

Each of the monarchs looked lost for words for a moment, and Peter was scurrying for something to say, but he was failing miserably. Caspian looked pretty impressed, on the other hand. "I actually hadn't thought of it that way," Peter said in a strong, yet uncertain voice."

Susan looked at him with a slight frown on her face. "I don't think any of us did." She looked over at Meredith and smiled fondly at her. "But Meredith here saw a perspective none of us did."

Caspian, being mostly left out of this entire plan since he was against it from the start, stepped forward. "Perhaps it would be a good idea to only take a small army with us to the raid, so that enough of us can stay here to protect the how," he offered in his trilling accent. The monarchs looked at each other in silent contemplation before Peter made the final decision.

"That does sound like a good plan."

"I'm also wondering if it wouldn't be a bad idea to take them with us, considering they can contribute to our effort," Susan said, motioning to the three of us. This time, Caspian joined Rico in protesting, which was a surprise in a way. Peter stood stony faced as he looked from the three of us, almost debating internally on what he should do. It was clear that he didn't want us to come along; he didn't want us to endanger ourselves (especially his dearest Meredith)…since we're such poor defenseless females (sense my sarcasm). But when he spoke, we were taken a bit aback.

"I think we should, indeed."

"What?" and "Why?" were both exclaimed by Rico and Caspian at the same time, but Peter just held up a hand to silence them.

"Even if we do leave most of our army here to protect the how, there is still a possibility that the Telmarines could attack, therefore leaving them with the risk of being in danger. If they're with us, then at least we can be sure that they will be safe. Not only can we look after them, but those coming with us will be able to as well…not to mention they will be able to contribute, as Susan mentioned." He directed his gaze to Rico, who looked utterly flabbergasted. "And this, you may not have considered yet, but if we leave them behind, they are sure to follow."

"I like you. You're realistic," I said playfully, nodding my head upwardly at the high king. He smiled back, instead of giving me that smug smirk he normally wore. Slowly but surely, King Pain In the Ass was turning out to be pretty cool. So now he was cute _and_ cool. If only he didn't like Meredith, I would have stepped forward. Okay, to be completely honest I still probably wouldn't go for it. I can always admire from afar. The way I see it, getting into a relationship and sticking a label on it just complicates things. It's just not worth it. Tearing my gaze away from the high king, I looked to Grace and Meredith, who were stepping up with ideas for what they could do to assist with the raid.

"We're going to penetrate the inner walls by flying in on the backs of some of the griffons," Susan explained, filling the girls in on the plan. "Edmund will go in first so he can give us a signal to let us know it's clear, then the rest of us will follow." It was a good plan, but if nine of us flew in on the backs of griffons, that would be just a little too conspicuous. Four or five of us would be okay, but nine? Low key was the key, here.

Apparently Caspian and I had that idea at the same time. I thought that because he was watching me think. Well, just try to picture my expression. I was standing there with both hands on my hips. My face had this unsurprised smirk on it that told I wasn't at all shocked at the less than brilliant plan. My eyebrows were lifted slightly, and my eyes were probably dancing in amusement. When I caught Caspian's eye, he flashed me a lopsided grin. We were thinking the exact same thing. "It might work. It would be a sure way to get us all inside, that is certain." He faced Peter. "My concern, though, is that we may be found out. Nine griffons soaring across the sky isn't exactly difficult to spot."

Peter nodded, his eyes furrowed in thought. "That is true. Maybe if we split up. Half of us can fly in and the rest can ride in with the army." His brows arched, and I almost heard the tiny buzz you hear in cartoons when a light bulb goes off over someone's head. "In fact, it would be a good way to keep you three in safe hands during the battle," he suavely gestured towards the three of us."

"We could take one of them with us, you know," Edmund pointed out. "Grace could come with us, and Meredith and Campbell can stay with Glenstorm and Wimbleweather." It sounded alright, really it did. But I knew Grace wouldn't want to be separated from her sister. Those two didn't go anywhere without the other. But hey, they were a packaged deal. It's like salt and pepper. Peanut butter and jelly. Chips and salsa. Or like Donnie and Marie. Or Michael Jackson and Barney. Okay, maybe not the last one…but you get the idea!

"Sorry, but I would really rather stay with Meri," Grace piped up, scooting closer to her sister. "It's a sisterly thing. I'm sure you understand, right Sue?" The young queen smiled kindly and nodded.

"I most definitely do."

"Alright, well in that case, Campbell, you can come with us. You can help us open the gate for the army to get through," Peter said, nodding to me. "It never hurts to have an extra pair of eyes watching our backs."

"What about us?" Bryce asked, pointing to himself and Rico.

Rico's eyes lit up and it reminded me of the time we told him the anime convention was going to be held in town. "If you need a good infiltrator, I'm your guy. I've got ninja skills. They'd never see me coming."

Grace and Meri both snorted. "That's bull, Rico. You drive us nuts all the time with your dorky jokes," Grace smirked.

"Is that even relevant? What does that have to do with my ninja skills?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"…the fact that we could still hear you." At this, Meri started giggling softly at her sister's comment. Grace grinned at her before continuing. "If you truly were a ninja, we wouldn't be able to see you…"

"…which would be pretty nice, might I add," Bryce interjected, earning a traitorous glare from Rico.

"…much less hear you," Grace finished, almost laughing out loud at what Bryce said. Meredith couldn't contain it, though, and started giggling out loud. At the sound of her soft peels, both Peter's and Caspian's heads snapped in her direction, their eyes shining brightly at her. So first Peter, now Caspian. Well, at least she would appreciate the latter. I think Peter was a little too forward for her taste.

"I hate you all. Truly, I do." Rico had a boyish pout on his face, crossing his arms even more and narrowing his eyes.

"Uh huh, and that's exactly why you hang out with us. Because you hate us," I said, smirking at the sour look of defeat he shot at me. He had nothing. No clever comebacks, no snappy jibes, nothing.

"Actually, Campbell, I hang out with you guys so I can see your pretty face every day. I wouldn't be able to breathe if I didn't." Mmhmm, leave it to Rico to try to use charm to his advantage. The only person I'd ever seen him sway with his charm was the silver-headed old lady who works in the school cafeteria. In return for his cheesy smile and highly cliché compliments, he got an extra piece of garlic toast. No matter how much we teased him about that, he was proud of his extra piece of garlic toast. I could have fired something back at him to actually get him good, but I decided to let him off easy.

"That's perfectly understandable," I said playfully, shrugging my shoulders.

Rico smiled back. "No, but really," he turned to face Peter again, "I could sneak in if you need me to. I can be quick and quiet."

Edmund, Caspian, and Peter looked at each other. "Our lieutenant, Reepicheep, is taking in a few of his mice to scout out things and distract a few of the inner guards. If you'd like, you can go with them. I'm sure he wouldn't mind an extra man."

Bryce looked back over at Grace and Meri. "If it would make everyone feel better, I can go with the girls. I can help them out."

"That would be a good idea. I think Grace and Meredith can ride in with Glenstorm and his sons. There's no doubt in my mind that they would take care of them." Looking at Bryce thoughtfully, Peter continued. "You can either ask one of the centaurs to carry you, or you can ask one of the other Narnians to. I'm sure none of them would have a problem with it.

Susan scanned everyone with her bright blue eyes, big and alert as she assessed everyone. "Now that's taken care of, we should probably find them all weapons. There's no sense in letting them come with us if they aren't at least armed."

"Right. We've got plenty of weapons in the armory, we should start there," Edmund added, stepping forward to lead the way back to the mentioned chamber of the how.

"You'll have to try them out, to see what works best for you. I wouldn't recommend the bow to anyone, though, unless you've had previous experience with it," Susan said, taking Grace's shoulder and leading her away as she finished.

As we all followed the monarchs to the armory, I couldn't help but to wonder what kind of weapons we would end up with. To be completely honest, the idea of any of us carrying swords was scary as hell. But I would rather us carry some kind of protection than be out there, solely depending on the rest of the army to keep us alive and in one piece. I did know that finding a weapon we each could handle without inflicting serious injuries upon ourselves would be quite the interesting task.

* * *

A/N

I hope you all enjoyed that. It was a bit longer than the others, and I think the next few will be the same way. Don't forget to review!

Peace,

Rhythmic5


	7. Chapter 7

Departing

Now we all stood together, waiting patiently while Peter, Edmund, Susan, and Caspian greeted the griffons. I could already see the one that was meant for me to ride. They were all an amberish gold in color, but they each had a slight difference in tint. Peter was standing beside the tallest, and the others stood near the ones they would be riding. The last one left, which I knew would be mine, had the darkest golden feathers. The tips of his wings looked almost brown. To tell you the truth, I was getting a little nervous at the idea of flying with one of these things. I mean, I wasn't really afraid of heights, but…riding in an enclosed space like a plane was a lot more secure feeling than riding in the clutches of a huge lion-headed bird. For a moment I wished I was riding on a tiger's back like Bryce was, or riding with a centaur. Wait…my ride was going to be _way_ cooler.

I took a sideways glance at the twins, who both looked pretty calm…even though I knew they were panicking on the inside. "Are you guys ready for this?" I asked them, not being able to ignore the jitters I was experiencing.

"I think so," Grace said in a voice that said she was trying to be strong for both of them. "I'm going with Glenstorm and Meri's going with one of the other centaur's so I think we'll be okay."

I nodded, still a little nervous for all of us. I then remembered the dagger Meredith now carried, thanks to Peter. Interesting story:

_We were all bent over a couple of chests that held different kinds of weapons. Bryce had found a pair of machetes that he seemed to like, and when he held them up to show us, he got this crazed look on his face. That in itself was going to be interesting. Rico was whipping around a long, slender club that sort of reminded me of a baseball bat. Edmund tried to offer him a dagger to carry with him, but Rico insisted that the pocket knife he had would be enough if the club didn't work out. _

_I had a hard time finding something I could handle. The swords were all made of steel and heavy metals, and I couldn't really lift one. But Susan helped me find one that was light enough for me to carry, and just as effective. Grace, being the picky thing that she is, went through every chest they had and didn't find anything she wanted to use. So, since nothing they had would suffice, she decided to fashion herself a shank. For the next couple of hours she could be seen hacking away at a piece of wood with Rico's pocket knife, making her self-crafted shank. Leave it to her to bring ghetto back._

_All of us had decided what we would use to fight with, all except for Meredith. And she was the one we were the most worried about. Grace and I…we're pretty tough. But Meri? We all pitched in, scrimmaging through the chests to find something suitable for her, but we couldn't find anything. I had the only light-weight sword, and she couldn't handle the others. She didn't have time to learn to shoot a bow, so that was out of the question. There were a couple of spears and a long wooden staff that she could no doubt use, but we were concerned as to whether or not it would be enough protection for her. We had finally decided that she would fight as little as possible and just let Grace and Bryce look after her. Edmund handed her one of the spears, which was thick enough to do damage if she whacked someone with it, but also light enough for her to carry. After we had all found our weapons, we started chattering about how to use each of them, and Edmund, Susan, Caspian, and Lucy gave us tips. Peter and Meri had both disappeared, and we later found out why. _

_About five or six minutes after they disappeared, they both returned. Peter returned to his siblings, nodding in satisfaction to see each of us wielding weapons. I looked back at the door they had both walked through to see Meredith still standing there and looking a little frail. I tiptoed over to her to see what the matter was. _

"_You feeling alright?" I had asked her._

_She was looking at the ground, trying her best to avoid looking at Peter. "Yea, I'm fine," she said quietly. I noticed she was hiding something behind her back. I eyed her hidden hand, and curiosity got the better of me._

"_Whatcha got there behind your back?"_

"_It's…umm…something Peter gave me," she said, biting her lip as if not wanting to say it. She looked up, making sure no one was watching before pulling out a foot and a half long dagger. It wasn't anything fancy. Just a dagger. But I was wondering why she was acting so strangely about it._

"_Well that was thoughtful of him," I smirked, knowing it made her feel uncomfortable, but also knowing it was a good thing he gave it to her. At least she had more than a spear._

_She turned it over, examining the blade. "Yea, I guess…I just don't feel right about this."_

"_What do you mean?" I asked. Maybe we were getting somewhere now…_

_She shuffled on her feet, looking over my shoulder. But then her eyes widened and she blushed instantly, averting her gaze back down to the dagger. I turned slowly to see Peter watching her from the other side of the room. "It's just something he said. I just…I don't know," she huffed softly in frustration._

"_He likes you, Meri. It's obvious that he does. He just doesn't want to see you get hurt, that's all."_

"_I know. But," she bit her lip again, scrunching up her nose as she sniffled. "I just don't…I don't feel that way about him." She chanced a look back over my shoulder and I turned sideways to see he wasn't watching her anymore. This time, however, Caspian was the one watching her discreetly from where he was talking with Bryce and Grace. "He's nice. He really is a nice guy, but there's something about him that I just don't feel comfortable with. I think he reminds me of…" her words died away. I looked back at the high king, and realized what she meant. I felt my eyes widen as the realization hit me. Now it made sense why she acted the way she did around him. How did I miss the physical similarities before?_

_I looked down at the dagger, knowing that it bothered her to be holding something he gave her, especially when he reminded her of _him_. "Just hold on to it, Meri. So we know you will be alright if the others can't look out for you."_

_She nodded almost sadly, sticking the dagger into a leather scabbard that was now belted around her waist. "That's just what he said."_

Even now I could see the hilt of the dagger jutting out from it's scabbard. Meredith caught my gaze and looked back at me with a forced smile. The smile became more genuine, however, when Rico and Bryce walked up behind them. Rico threw an arm around each of their shoulders.

"You ladies ready for some action?" He asked excitedly. He really was pumped about this. "What about you, Meri? Are you ready?"

She smiled back at him. "As ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

"That's the spirit!" He said, clapping her on the back.

About that time, a large tiger strode up to Bryce's side. The tiger looked up at him, placing one of his huge paws on the back of his leg to get his attention. "Am I right to assume you're Master Bryce?"

Bryce looked down at the tiger sheepishly. "Yea…um…Bryce. Just Bryce."

"Just Bryce, I am Raman. His High Majesty has asked me to carry you upon my back for the raid this night," he said proudly, bowing his head.

Bryce's cheeks flushed slightly. "No…I mean, yes, he did, and thanks. But, my name is Bryce. Not Master Bryce, or Just Bryce. It's Bryce."

The tiger stared back at him silently for a moment before making a sound that sounded like a deep, throaty laugh. "Oh, I see! My apologies, then. Bryce, it is." The tiger laughed some more. "Well, Bryce, their Majesties have informed the rest of the army that we shall leave soon." At that we all exchanged worried glances. Next two centaurs walked up to us. They were both dark skinned with long dark hair. And they had crazy looking eyes! They seriously had the coolest eyes I had ever seen.

The one that looked the oldest of the two surveyed our ragtag bunch with deep, wise eyes. When his eyes landed on Grace he said, "You must be Lady Grace. I am Glenstorm." Grace looked a little embarrassed and really confused.

"Uh, hi. I…um…you can just call me Grace. Grace will work," she spluttered, laughing lightly as a defense mechanism.

The centaur merely nodded his head to her, never once blinking. It was kinda creepy how he was watching her. "Very well, then, Grace. I am to accompany you tonight. Have you ever ridden atop the back of a centaur before?" He spoke slowly and fluidly, and it sounded like each word melted and solidified again as he drew it out. His voice was deep and rich, and I'll admit it was sort of entrancing. But then I remembered what he'd asked her. Grace hates horses. And obviously she had never ridden on a centaur before…so this was going to be interesting. Now when I say she 'hates' horses, it's mostly because she is afraid of them.

Sure enough, she stuttered some more. "N-no, I haven't. Er…"

But Glenstorm only smiled with patient understanding. "Worry not. All you have to do is hold on to me tightly, and do not let go. The rest I shall take care of." From behind him I could see another pair of crazy eyes. This centaur was much younger than Glenstorm. His eyes were still deep and dark, but there was something there that spoke the difference in age. His ebony hair was also slightly wavier. He strode forward, his eyes zoning in on Meredith at once.

"Lady Meredith, it was asked of my by His High Majesty King Peter to accompany you tonight. I am Ironglade," he said in a mild tenor voice, bowing his head to Meri. Meredith didn't have the same reaction as Grace had. I'm guessing she could see that the whole formality thing was just their custom, and that sooner or later we could have to accept it. There was no telling how many times I was going to be addressed as 'Lady Campbell' while we were here. Deep sigh.

But Meredith just smiled back at him politely and, I almost didn't believe it when I saw it, but she curtsied! She was catching on with this stuff fast! "Thanks, Ironglade. I look forward to it."

"As do I, milady." A firm hand landed on my shoulder, and I turned to see Edmund behind me.

"It's time to go. You had better get to your griffon," he said, gesturing to the large golden beast behind him. I then looked back at my friends, and it's like reality had finally struck. Grace and Meredith threw their arms around me, squeezing me as if jelly beans would pop out or something. The thought of jelly beans, for some reason, made images of Candy Mountain flash through my head and I could hear 'shun the nonbeliever…shuuuuuuun…"

"Be careful," they both said.

"You two had better be careful. I'll be watching out for you." I tried my best to keep the quiver out of my voice, but it was kind of rough. I was almost sure that we would all be okay after this. But it was still a battle. The two nodded slowly before pulling away, holding onto each other for dear life. Then Rico came up to me.

"Stay safe out there, Cami. Those boys will take care of you, but still watch your back," he said warningly, nodding his head upward at the "boys" that were Edmund, Peter, and Caspian. Funny thing was, we were not much older than they were.

"Yea, you too. Don't try to do anything too heroic, now." I winked at Rico, knowing he would be fine. Hell, if any of the five of us were capable of defending ourselves, it was Rico. He would probably just bust out with some crazy taekwondo moves. Rico smiled and stepped away to find his mouse partners. Okay, it sounds hokey, but it's true. And there was Bryce.

I gave him a big hug, which is saying a lot for me since I don't really do hugs. Bryce pulled away shyly. "We'll see you afterwards. Here." That was all he would say, because he didn't want to assume anything, but at the same time didn't want to hope for the best. Because honestly, none of us were sure about what to expect.

"Alright, I'll hold you to that!" I smiled at him, patting his shoulder. Then I felt a tugging on my elbow. Edmund was physically pulling me towards the rest of our party. But just before I turned to run towards them, I turned back around for one last shout. "Hey guys!" They snapped around to look at me. "Good luck!" And with that, I turned to catch up with the youngest king. But just before I reached my griffon, which was perched beside Susan, I was tackled just below the boobs. Yes, it was shocking.

"Campbell!" cried the youngest queen. Lucy. I hadn't really talked to her much. We had exchanged greetings and that was about all, but here she was, hugging me.

"You're staying here to watch over things, then?"I asked her. She frowned slightly, but wiped it away quickly to smile brightly.

"I sure am. I'll be waiting for you all to come back, so don't take too long," she joked. And as fast as she was there, she was gone. I turned and saw her launch herself on Meredith.

"You had better get situated with your griffon," Susan said from beside me. I looked over at the griffon behind me and looked back at her to see how she was riding it. For now, she was just standing in front of it. I figured as soon as we took off they would grip us with their talons. I backed up a little and stood there, slightly shaking. Who wouldn't be? Susan noticed my discomfort and watched me as I stared at my friends across the lawn.

"You're all very close, aren't you?"

I looked back at her, trying to smile but finding it hard to. "Yea, we've gone to school together for several years now. We've grown to be really close, I guess you could say. We're almost like family."

The queen smiled back, then flashed her eyes towards my friends. "I know you're probably all frightened out of your wits, but you should know that you'll be fine. We won't let any harm come to you or your friends.

Peter approached my side and I almost jumped when I saw how close he was. "She's right, you know. You will all be in good hands," he said, patting me on the back. I think I may have nodded to let him know I was listening, but I wasn't sure. All I could focus on was how close the blonde headed, blue eyed knock out was to me. He looked at Susan and Edmund before exchanging commanding glances with Caspian, and we all braced ourselves for our griffons. I gasped when I felt my griffon's sharp talons close around my waist. And before I knew it, we were ascending into the air. I looked back down at my friends, who were watching me from the ground. With one last wave to them all, I looked to my side to see Susan smiling gently. And then they disappeared from my line of vision as I felt air whipping around me. I held onto the feet of my griffon, shutting my eyes to get used to the feeling of flying.

* * *

A/N

That was short and a little dull, I'm sorry. But the next chapter will make up for it, I promise.

Peace,

Rhythmic5


End file.
